Glock 44

A recent introduction by Glock has proven very interesting. The Glock 44 is a purpose built 22 Long Rifle handgun, It appears very similar to the Glock 19 and has been well received as far as sales go. The pistol isn’t perfect, however, and there are questions that need to be answered when it comes to aftermarket parts and gunsmithing. Is it identical in most regards to the Glock 19? Are there reliability issues? What about something as simple as aftermarket sights?

Lets look hard at the Glock 44 and see if we can avoid false steps with this pistol. The 22 Option One point concerning the Glock 44— Glock has for the first time moved out of the personal defense and service market. Many makers or aftermarket makers offer rimfire conversions for their handguns. Some work well, others not so much. I have used a 22 caliber handgun for marksmanship training, practice, and small game hunting for decades. They are just fun guns and you don’t need an "important" reason to own one.

Shooters that neglect to own a 22 handgun are missing out on an important tool as the cost of shooting one pales over the cost of an extensive training regimen. The 22 LR allows many thousands of rounds of rounds of ammunition to be fired for a pittance. The problem is the 22 LR is a hoary, old design. The rimmed cartridge case and heel-based bullet doesn’t make for the most reliable feeding.

As the name implies, the propellant was intended for rifles and the resulting pressure curve makes for difficulty in convincing a pistol to feed properly. The heel-based bullet may tilt in the cartridge during the feed cycle. This is more related to the cartridge and its integrity than the feed ramp of the pistol. The powder, even at best, is dirtier than most centerfire loads, grain for grain. Most makers warranty their pistol with work only with high velocity loads.

Since standard velocity loads are generally more expensive than bulk produced high velocity loads, this isn’t a demerit. CCI alone manufactures billions of 22 LR cartridges a year; most are high velocity loads. The Glock 44 doesn’t have Glock’s Gen5 improvements such as ambidextrous slide locks. The Glock 44 is essentially a Gen4 design with a finger groove frame, similar to the popular Glock 19 9mm. The Glock 44 is well suited for rimfire practice for those that own Glock centerfire handguns.

The pistol is equally well suited to beginning shooters and those that enjoy informal target shooting and small game hunting. A radical departure from the Glock 19 is a lightweight slide that is a hybrid mix of polymer with metal reinforcement. A steel slide would be too heavy to be actuated by rimfire recoil.

While it may be tempting to fit aftermarket sights, perhaps the same XS sights found on your Glock 23 as an example, makers tell me they do not recommend steel sights to be pressed into the polymer Glock hybrid slide. This means that until the aftermarket catches up, gunsmiths should not accept work to replace the Glock 44 sights with aftermarket sights.

I admit I have not tried this myself but the sight makers want to sell their products and when they decline to sell a product on this basis there is validity in their opinion. I am certain some brave soul will attempt the job. They may well be successful. Or not. I prefer to err on the side of caution. While you may Far The re-design prevents the Glock 44 slide from fitting a Glock 19 frame and vice versa.

ask why fit night sights to a 22 LR, well, there are also target grade steel sights. Some would like to have exactly the same sights on the Glock rimfire as their service pistol. Other than these issues, the take down, magazine release, and trigger action are straight up Glock. You cannot place the Glock 44 slide on a Glock 19 frame as the locking block differs. This is a blowback action; the barrel isn’t fixed but it is removable. The barrel is called a "Glock Marksman Barrel" (GMB) by the company.

The chamber is fluted to aid feed reliability. A threaded barrel will be available at some point. Magazines are readily available and affordable at around $30 or less. The pistol is supplied with two magazines. No loading tool is needed as they are easy to fill. Glock 44 magazines area single column holding ten rounds. Glock tells us that a high capacity magazine is difficult to convince to feed with the rimmed 22 Long Rifle cartridge.

The magazine features a nicely located tab on the follower that makes loading easy. Depress the tab and load one round at a time to properly stack the ammo in the magazine, do not depress the tab and drop cartridges into the magazine. The proper sequence ensures feed reliability. If the Glock comes into the shop with a feed issue ammunition and proper loading of the magazine would be the first place to look. Cleaning and lubrication will be an issue. The overall length is 7.28 inches. Barrel length is 4.02 inches.

Standard Glock-type frame inserts are included. The Glock 44 features a rail for mounting combat lights. Unlike most 22 LR rimfire handguns, the Glock 44 may be dry fired without harming the firing pin. Glock confirms this, as do my 650 dry fire cycles on my test pistol. The difference most apparent in handling is weight. The Glock 44 weighs just over 14.5 ounces, nine ounces less than the Glock 19. As far as the trigger action, the trigger breaks at 5.8 pounds compression.

The trigger action is standard Glock and may be interchanged with aftermarket triggers. The slide and barrel differ in the locking block so you cannot put a Glock 44 slide on the Glock 19 and that’s good. Reliability is the big problem and the Glock 44 isn’t as reliable as the company claims. My testing with several types of High Velocity loads demonstrated it is almost, but not quite, one hundred per cent. Be careful how you stagger the cartridges in the magazine.

Subsonic ammunition is supposed to work; sometimes yes, sometimes no and once the piece is dirty subsonics don’t work as well. The first sign is the slide doesn’t lock open on the last shot. The pistol’s high point for reliability, given a clean gun and properly loaded magazine, is the CCI Mini Mag, either RN, HP, or segmented. These loads were completely reliable in my four hundred rounds of testing. Don’t laud my efforts too much, as it was a lot of fun.

Main Points The upper unit is of composite polymer reinforced steel. Do not use steel sights. The adjustable sights are supplied with a loading tool. The striker cover may be interchanged with aftermarket types for pre-Gen5 pistols. The Glock 44 slide will not fit the Glock 19 frame. The locking block of the Glock 44 is polymer and differs from centerfire handguns. The ejector is longer. Grip inserts are Glock 19 types. For reliability issues check ammunition, lubrication, and proper magazine loading first.

Keep the Glock 44 clean and lubricated and it will go several hundred Mini Mags without a hiccup. That’s all we can ask. It is a neat 22 LR, a Glock, and while it is less reliable than some 22s, it is more reliable than others. AG Far Even though the recoil spring assembly seems as large as the 9mm, it isn’t nearly as strong.